Field
The present invention relates to semiconductor electronic devices, and more particularly to semiconductor devices formed of two dimensional (2-D) van der Waals (VDW) material.
Description of Related Art
In semiconductor electronic devices formed of conventional bulk semiconductors and 2-D VDW material, electrical current flows through both the bulk semiconductors and 2-D VDW materials. The 2-D VDW is doped for electron or hole transport and proper junction electrical characteristics.
Presently, two methods are commonly used to dope the 2-D VDW material: 1) Transfer doping using molecules attached to the surface of the 2-D material, or 2) interstitial/substitutional doping where one replaces certain atoms within the crystal lattice with other atoms of difference valence number. Research in doping the 2-D VDW material is still at a very early stage, but results from these existing methods have not shown them to be very promising for long term reliability or optimum device performance. It also has been found that adding interstitial or substitutional impurities to dope the 2-D VDW material lead to defective materials and reduces the benefits these materials would otherwise offer. This technique is also not as reliable because these atoms desorb from the surface.
Improvements in doping 2-D VDW materials would be beneficial.